Friday, December 31, 2010

Here are 11 predictions for the year 2011, and today's poll question is which do you think is most likely to come true? More than one may happen, but you have to select the most likely to become reality. Personally if I were a gambling man had to make a bet on one of these 11 predictions, I would feel the safest betting on Dalton losing this fall. I think it is 95% guaranteed that Sarah Palin will announce she is running for President. The odds of an election in Canada this year is probably a 50-50 coin flip right now. It is unlikely that Obama will be impeached, but it would be nice.

With the end of 2010 at hand, it is time to start making predictions for 2011. What do you think is going to happen? A spring election might be the most obvious prediction, followed by a Bob Rae coup for Liberal leadership. Though I suspect that the coup will come after a failed election bid, an election that Iggy's opponents are likely insisting take place. Will Jim Flaherty significantly reduce the deficit? Will planned cuts to business taxes be implemented? It likely is not a bold prediction that Dalton Mcguinty will lose this fall. I'd like to launch the poll this afternoon, your suggestions are welcome.

Today's poll question; who was the best Canadian female athlete of 2010? This being a winter Olympic year, there are a number of gold medalists to choose from. Joannie Rochette has the be the sentimental favourite even though she had to settle for the bronze. Hers was unquestionably the best story of performing under pressure and adversity, but I might take our women's hockey team as the most dominant.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Today's poll question; do you think we should be putting pictures of dead people on packs of cigarettes? I am in favour of discouraging young people from smoking, but this seems to be a step too far. The most effective way to discourage people from smoking is to do what they have been doing jacking up taxes on tobacco. A lot of people have stopped smoking because they just can't afford it anymore. Then again, as you make it more expensive you make black market cigarettes more profitable. I don't mind big warning labels on cigarettes, but I draw the line at dead people. I don't want to see dead people like the kid in the Sixth Sense.

What's next? Are we going to mandate that cigarettes be renamed death sticks and that they be sold in tiny coffins?

It appears that Candice Hoeppner is poised to win the CBC's political game changer of the year poll promoted by the Soloman Show. The good people at the CBC deliberately left Rob Ford off the nomination list, who was arguably the biggest game changer of them all. Congrats to Candice, but Rob Ford's absence diminishes the significance and accuracy of the poll. I would speculate that the Soloman Show doesn't nominate new mayors, yet the new mayor of Calgary made the list. It just goes to show you that the left wing kooks in the pinko Toronto media are afraid of the phenomenon of Toronto shifting right.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

In the wake of recent speculation that the Tories are willing to work with the NDP on the next budget, Liberal Finance critic Scott Brison is now accusing the Conservatives of "electioneering". Meanwhile, this speculation only came about after the Libs decided to start election-mongering. According to Brison, “Both the NDP and the Conservatives are playing games on this. There’s no common ground between those two parties except to avoid an election at any cost.” Ergo Liberals wanting to force an election good, Tories and Dippers wanting to avoid an election bad.

All that being said, the Tories are in a better position to fight an election than the Liberals, so it is odd that the Libs are the ones so eager to go to the polls. The best strategy for the Tories is to "rope-A-dope" the Liberals into forcing an unwanted election. That would seem to be what they are doing, and the Liberals can't resist taking the bait.

As someone who would never vote for the NDP, I am cheering for the newest candidate Dana Larsen to win the nomination to replace outgoing NDP leader Carole James. You might remember Dana Larsen from the 2008 election where he resigned in the middle of a campaign after some nutty videos of him doing drugs surfaced on Youtube (including one of him driving a car under the influence). It was quite embarassing for Jack Layton, as yet another riding association elected very poor candidate.

I would like the NDP to lose, and as such want Larsen to win the race to replace James. A provincial election with Larsen's hands on the steering wheel would be hilarious.

Last night I rented the latest incarnation of Oliver Stone's Wallstreet. Money might not sleep, but as irony would have it I fell asleep half way through money never sleeps. I had to watch the rest this morning. As an economist I did find it mildly interesting, but I can't see the non-economic minded enjoying this film. It was overly idealistic with plenty of bad acting. Susan Sarandon was awful.

My biggest problem was that they grossly misused and over-used the term "moral hazard", which they attempted to define as people not being responsible with other people's money. In reality moral hazard is the effect of an insurance policy which actually increases the probability of incurring a loss. A great example is employment insurance. If you make it too easy to get, it increases the probability that certain people will quit their job.If you make welfare payouts too high, it creates an incentive for the people on the margin to make claims and leave the workforce. Why work when you can get paid not to work? Then a segment of the population goes from adding economic value to our economy to draining value. That's moral hazard. The larger the incentive, the larger the hazard.

Bottom line, if you are interested in financial markets you should enjoy at least parts of the movie. If you don't think that you will enjoy "Wallstreet: Money Never Sleeps", you won't.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Today's poll question; do you think the NDP wants a spring election? The Globe and Mail is now speculating that the Dippers and Tories are preparing to work together on the spring budget, while Iggy and the Liberals have been election-mongering. Being that the Conservatives are in a much stronger position than the Liberals, both in polls and bank accounts, I suspect that they wouldn't mind seeing the opposition bring down the House. The NDP however have been lagging in the polls and suffered a devastating defeat in the latest byelections. The Tories should not be opposed to an opposition induced election, and the NDP should be desperate to avoid heading to the polls before Iggy completes his self-destruct cycle. His campus tour, then Thinkapalooza, then Summer Tour, then Open Mike, all said done, did not budge the polls for more than a few days at a time.

If the NDP and Tories are indeed preparing to work together, the Conservatives have the most bargaining power. I think the punditry might be surprised at what policies the NDP are willing to bend on to avoid an election. The debacle of Winnipeg North likely has the Dippers spooked.

Monday, December 27, 2010

What do you look for in a Prime Minister, compassion or competency? Having failed to register with voters on the matter of competency, Iggy Pop is now trying to present himself as Mr Compassion. There is nothing wrong with compassion, but when mixed with a stunning lack of competency it can be very dangerous. Iggy and friends at the Globe and Mail are trying very hard to distance the Liberals from the spectre of a coalition with the Bloc and the NDP by trying to appeal to their voters. A vote for the NDP is a vote for Stephen Harper, they say. If however you want an incompetent compassionate alternative to Mr. Harper, vote Liberal. Nothing says incompetent like Mike Ignatieff in the driver's seat.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Today's poll question; what are the top Canadian political stories from the 2nd half of 2010? There are many to choose from, such as Rob Ford winning the mayoral race in Toronto, Julian Fantino winning Vaughan, Gordon Campbell resigning, Dalton McGuinty not resigning, and so on and so forth. The top 3 vote getters in this poll will faceoff against the top 3 from the first half of 2010 poll. Here are your options

Saturday, December 25, 2010

I was delighted to see that our troops were treated to a surprise visit from none other than Canadian icon Don Cherry. While I'm sure that most left wing kooks will roll their eyes at this gesture, it is a great gift for our fighting men and women on this special holiday. Good on you Don! Incredibly enough, Cherry even exchanged artillery fire with insurgents. After saying "Taliban, here I come" he launched an artillery shell deep in insurgent territory, to which the Taliban responded with rocket fire.

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope that everyone gets to enjoy some time with their family and share some exciting gifts. I bought my dad the new Karl Rove book Courage and Consequence, and Real Money by Jim Cramer. My nephew got a remote control zamboni that he was very excited about. It has been a fun morning thus far in Salt Lake City, and best wishes to you and yours wherever you happen to be for Christmas 2010. Now if you'll excuse me, I must get back to the latest Don Cherry video. Even at 3 years old, my nephew is a big Cherry fan. Put that in your pipes and smoke it, you left wing kooks...

Friday, December 24, 2010

I am eagerly anticipating the day that the CBC starts granting Access to Information requests on cost expenditures, because I would really like to know how much money they have paid to former Liberal communications director Scott Reid who once when writing about an attempted coup against the Prime Minister encouraged the Globe and Mail's readers to "kill him, kill him dead". Early in 2010 the CBC gave Scotty a regular segment on the Soloman Show, and have been publishing his articles ever since. How much have they paid him?

If I send in an ATI request, I am wasting $5. CBC's policy is that telling you how much they people compromises their artistic integrity. Not that Scotty has an integrity, but he is still protected by the same state broadcaster who wants your tax dollars but don't want to tell you how they spend it.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Today's poll question; what was the top Canadian political story of 2010? I am going to do 3 polls to select the top story of 2010. The first poll will be for the first half of the year, the second poll for the second half, and then a playoff poll with the top 3 vote getters from the round robin. I scrolled through my archives to help me compile the nomination list.

1) Prorogation immaculate protest: We delayed the resumption of Parliament to host the world at a major international event at the Vancouver Olympics, and the left wing kooks went nuts. The CBC helped raise awareness for this supposedly "grassroots" protest by advertising repeatedly in the days leading up. Even Sideshow Bob Rae, the Prince of Prorogation who prorogued virtually every year he was Premier of Ontario, took to the streets in protest. That's like PeeWee Herman protesting masturbation.

3) Canada owns the podium in Vancouver. Thankfully Parliament was not in session to distract us from what was really important, winning the Olympics on Canadian soil. The Tory "Own The Podium" legislation is a huge success.

4) Canada's rapid response to the disaster in Haiti. Our disaster response team was the first on the ground.

8) Left wing kooks trash/torch Toronto at G20. Ironically, Iggy decided to go on vacation while the city who elected him to office hosted the world. When the kooks were torching police cars, the Liberals said "we don't comment on events as they happen". I suppose the media did enough talking for everyone.

The results from the latest American census have been released, and there is one inescapable conclusion, big government, big taxes, doesn't work. The most Liberal states like New York, California, and Michigan that tax and spend the most are losing business. Job providers are picking up and moving to more Conservative states with lower taxes rates. As business leaves, jobs leave. As jobs leave, people leave. It is the same in Canada, Ontario and Quebec are losing business and as such those governments can't afford their enormous budgets. Alberta is doing great because business thrives there.

If we do as the opposition coalition wants us to do and refuse to lower taxes, they are going to cost Canadians jobs. You do not create a sustainable economy by squeezing businesses and creating a government that is going to take care of everyone forever. You do it by making this a competitive place to do business.

In the Globe and Mail's year in review, Liberal pollster and donor Frank Graves thinks that the biggest story of 2010 was class conflict, predominantly by the governing Tories. This of course is the same pollster who recently advised his friends at the Liberal Party to engage in a "culture war" against old white men in Alberta. Yet his big story of the year is accusing the Tories of class warfare.

“From the detainee issues to the red-hot ire over prorogation to concerns with G20 security and spending, right through to a surprisingly serious backlash over the elimination of the mandatory long-form census, all of these tempests seem to have settled back into the placid, some might say frozen, voter landscape we see today,” Mr. Graves says

Well done Frank. That's your BIG story of 2010. Delacourt's big story was the demanding of funding for African abortions, like that would have been a great use of funds that she believes cost us a seat on the UN security council. Personally I think the big story of 2010, other than owning the podium at the Olympics, was the left wing kooks torching police cars in Toronto.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

I support equal rights among all citizens regardless of race or sexual preference, including the right to military service. I am not convinced however that openly gay people in the military is going to "strengthen national security" as Barak Obama says. It was almost comical how big of a deal Obama made over this legislation, like he had just torn down the Berlin wall.

Is this going to boost recruitment? Is there suddenly going to be an influx of new recruits by making a tiny fraction of soldiers more comfortable? There will be many soldiers who are not comfortable sharing such an intimate living space with homosexuals, and regardless of whether that is right or wrong, it is likely to deter some people from serving. Gays should be allowed in the military, but I believe that don't ask don't tell served a useful purpose.

One thing that I can't help but notice while doing my Christmas shopping in the United States is how much cheaper retail goods are to buy. The sales tax is half of what it is Canada, and my father pays significantly less income tax. As I visited shopping malls and retail outlets, they were swarming with shoppers. I did not purchase a single Christmas gift in Canada, and frankly plan to do as much retail shopping as possible in the USA in the future.

Taxes suck. That's my professional opinion. Fresh census data in the USA shows large scale migration of people and jobs to more Conservative states with lower taxes. If you want to analyze the effectiveness of Liberal economic ideology, take a look at very Liberal states Michigan, New York, and California are in serious trouble.

I have safely arrived in the United States for Christmas vacation, and I am very excited for the upcoming holiday. Canada is my favourite country, but if I had to leave here for anywhere, I would choose the USA. Merry Christmas to all from SLC.

I am spending Christmas this year with my 3 year old nephew, and he is crazy obsessed with hockey. It is all he wants to do or watch, but we have a problem...he seems to like the Toronto Maple Leafs. Clearly he is not a fan of playoff hockey, as the Leafs suck, but at this young age he associates the Toronto maple leaf with the Canadian maple leaf. I am trying to explain to him that red maple leaf good, blue maple leaf bad, but it isn't really getting through. I told my sister that it is important to snap him out of it to save him from a long tortured life that comes with cheering for Toronto.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Don't forget people to look outside tonight if the sky is clear, as there will be a lunar eclipse on the shortest day of the year. This is a rare event, especially on the solstice. I am flying in a jet plane today, but I will have landed before the eclipse will have started. Hopefully there will be no cloud cover in Salt Lake City on Tuesday night.

There are no shortage of high profile candidates joining the Conservative Party these days, as rumour has outgoing Montreal Alouettes President Larry Smith preparing to run. While the Liberals are running around trying to raise money to pay for 2006, the Tory books are balanced with sound fiscal management. The tea leaves are turning blue just as Iggy Flop has started election mongering for a budget defeat. If Iggy wants to fight a spring election, he needs his donor base to donate as much of their money as possible to that campaign. He can't want his small donor base to spend all their money on a hot tub time machine.

Many of the 2006 Liberal leadership contenders still have not paid back their campaign debt that they spent losing to Stephane Dion, and now Justin Trudeau and Jane Taber are trying to help raise the money. Both Dryden and Kennedy still owe many thousands of dollars, and Trudeau is asking his fans to give money. Forget Haiti or the food bank, what Canadians really need to do to help make this a joyous holiday, don't help the needy, help wealthy failed leadership contenders pay off their debt. Bring Christmas to a community near you buy giving your hard earned money to Ken Dryden. Please? Pretty please?

Hopefully Iggy's 2008 leadership campaign debt is not an issue, which it shouldn't be because he was anointed rather than elected by the rank and file. Curious, if you are able to win the Liberal leadership, are you able to use money donated to the party to pay off campaign debt? I know that the Liberals are hurting for money in general, I'm just curious to know if Iggy has repaid all his debts. Raising money seems to be a big problem for the Liberals.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Where have you gone Global Warming, Europe turns its lonely eyes to you. Many North American travelers are stranded in Europe while that continent is gripped by harsh winter weather. Sadly for those somber travelers, the Earth is not turning into Venus. I will be departing soon from Vancouver for the United States where I have still not decided what pants to wear for my molestation from airport security. I don't normally wear jeans for air travel, but that is probably the least intimate clothing selection for my personal pat down.

To all those stranded travelers in Europe, may Global Warming be with you!

As a west coast resident, I am becoming somewhat concerned with this recent phenomenon of human feet washing up on shore. Is this a common occurrence, or is something unnatural happening? The common theme is that all these feet are wrapped in shoes, which is likely the most buoyant body part of anyone lost at sea. Does the natural decomposition process detach feet from the body? Or are these feet being manually detached before entering the ocean? That's the big question, and I hope that the police figure it out. I am not comfortable with the idea of going for a walk along the coast and human body parts floating ashore.

Today's poll question; if it is likely that Dalton McGuinty will lose the Ontario general election in the fall of 2011, should the federal Liberals want to go to the polls before or after Ontario? If Dalton gets routed, that won't help the federal brand. Would it be better for the federal Liberanos to go before or after Dalton gets his ass kicked? It is entirely plausible that Iggy's recent election mongering is a signal that he and his federal friends want a federal election before the Ontario election.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

It is the middle of December in Vancouver, and many golf courses are still open. Today I enjoyed a great round of golf at Burnaby Mountain, where it was warm, sunny, and the course was in excellent condition. Most of the rest of Canada is buried under several feet of snow, but we are still golfing in Vancouver. I actually played very poorly today, but that didn't matter because I was happy just to be taking the field. The length of the golf season in Vancouver is among the reasons that I am never moving back to Ontario. I end the 2010 golf season having not achieved my goal of breaking 100 in a round of par 72. Oh well, shit happens.

"And, finally, Mr. Ignatieff just doesn’t seem to have the “tune” of Canadian politics yet. In one of his year-end musings he offered one of — to my mind — the most outre observations ever on his own sense of his relation to Canadian voters: He seemed to be saying that he shares some of the appeal of Toronto conservative maverick Rob Ford. If Mr. Ignatieff seriously thinks that people look at Rob Ford and Michael Ignatieff and count up the similarities, I fear he is in a fantasy too deep for rescue."

We are entering the 3rd year of this current minority Canadian legislature, and the federal Liberals are now talking election. In the fall of 2011 Ontario will be holding a provincial election, where polls indicate Dalton McGuinty is likely to lose. The federal Liberals need the help of the provincial foot soldiers to fight an election, the question is, who should go to the polls first? If the Tories form government in Ontario, that is going to produce momentum for the federal Conservatives.

Do the federal Liberals want to wait until 2012, the fourth year of the mandate? Iggy will probably be one and done, which means Bob Rae would be unlikely to get a chance at an election until 2014ish. Unless Bob's deal with Iggy is if the Tories win another minority, Iggy resigns and Bobby negotiates a power sharing agreement with the other parties and they vote down the throne speech and ask the Governor General to form government.

Personally I think the Liberals would prefer a spring federal election and that's why Iggy is trying to convince us that we are ready for one. In my quasi-professional opinion, I suspect the Liberals and NDP have already talked this out and I expect Layton to behave accordingly.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Today's poll question; which of these 3 Liberal leaders do you think will suffer the largest defeat in their next general election? Will it by McGuinty, Iggy, or Charest? With Ignatieff now election-mongering and Ontario set for a fall vote, I'd like to figure out who is weaker Dalton or Iggy Flop. One thing that Iggy doesn't have is power. Which leader are Ontario Liberals more loyal to, McGuinty or Ignatieff? Gordon Campbell would have been nominated had he not recognized that it was time for him to go and resigned. We don't yet know who will replace him.

So which Liberal leader do you think is going to lose by the largest margin in the next election?

A day after Iggy adjourned for Christmas by telling Canadians that they are ready for an election and he is going to vote against next year's budget, the Prime Minister said that he will not attempt to force an election in 2011. We are approaching the five year anniversary of Stephen Harper becoming our Prime Minister, and he maintains that our focus should be on economic recovery and cutting the deficit. The Liberals meanwhile are election-mongering.

The Canadian economy has proved very resilient during this so called "Great Recession", but we have still not returned to 2007 levels. Obviously there was a giant bubble in the global credit, equity, housing, and mortgage markets that popped; so returning wealth to the bubble numbers is not going to be fast. Banks and related institutions issued billions of dollars in loans to people who would not be able to pay them back. This created a temporary wealth that could not sustain itself.

The part I can't figure out is this supposedly large demographic of "young people who have stopped looking for work". I understand people not working while they are in school, but if you are aged 18-60 and are not in school and not employed, you should always be looking for work (even if it is not your dream job).

It pains me to write this, but I applaud Justin Trudeau for sending out his family Christmas card wearing coyote fur. PETA is pissed off, but I hate to say that I appreciate what the Dauphin did in this instance. I don't know that I have ever liked anything that JT has said or done, but I like this. I would never vote for him to become Prime Minister, but I support him wearing the fur of the voracious coyote. Lest we forget, coyotes kill people, birds, and innocent rodents. If JT wants the best quality fur for Canadian Christmas, I would recommend mink.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Recently in Florida a gunman walked into a school board meeting started ranting and opened fire. Nobody was killed in the ordeal except the gunman himself. During the incident, a small woman tried to sneak up behind the man and hit him over the head with her purse. The man was about a foot taller and 150 pounds heavier than the women. While I respect the woman's bravery in this situation, it was a remarkably stupid thing to do. The man just turned around and threw her to the ground and went on to start shooting people. She's lucky that her act of bravery didn't get her killed, because it sure did not help diffuse the situation. The man had not yet fired any shots, and after her act he went on to shoot people. She is not a hero. She put herself and others in danger.

As a PSA to women who find themselves in a similar situation in the future, the best thing that you can do to help the situation is to alert and assist law enforcement. Don't do this. Call the police, and help them do their job.

That was Jane Taber's headline at the Globe and Mail. The opposition wants to increase taxes on iPods, which the Tories have turned into a campaign commercial. In an attempt to fight back on behalf of her pinko brethren, Jane (who "sets the agenda" at the G&M) tried to use the issue to attack the Conservatives. Artists have been lobbying for years to get tax levies added to their music sales, where the government argues that tougher piracy laws are the best course of action.

It is funny to witness Taber and friends repeatedly cry foul over Tory "fear mongering" like some kind of broken record. Meanwhile over the past 6 years, Tory ads have been remarkably effective where the Liberals have been absolutely lame. I would guess if you took Jane Taber's collective works since the last election and did a search for "coalition fear mongering" (referring to Tory campaigning) you would get a whole lot of hits. This is a regular theme in Jane's writing. Because certainly the left NEVER EVER engages in what could surely be described as "fear mongering"...

The Liberals will be busy over Christmas, now that Iggy has called for an election as soon as possible.

Ladies and gentlemen, the leader of the Liberal Party now thinks that you are all ready for an election, so on the last day of the winter session Iggy Flop announced his intention to vote against the next budget. Granted this is not the first time that Iggy has announced his intention to defeat the government. It did not work out well for him the first time, so we shall see if "your time is up" 2.0 succeeds where he previously fell flat on his face. Maybe this time he called Jack Layton BEFORE he threatened the collapse of Parliament?

This now puts the pressure on the NDP and Bloc to either support the government or force an election. Since we are at least 2 months away from a budget, I think the Liberals just want to be the first to announce their intention of collapsing the government to force the other parties into a corner. The hardest part of playing chicken is knowing when to flinch. I know at this point that the Tories would welcome an opposition forced election.

The fall session of Canadian Parliament 2010 is now officially over. We adjourn for another holiday season and anxiously await their return. Some people enjoy the sound of silence when the doors are shut, but political junkies like me can't wait to get back to business. Now is when the media slows down because there is not as much to talk about, and the audience for news and political blogs diminishes. I generally experience roughly a 35% decrease in pageviews in the days immediately following the closure of Parliament even more so during Christmas. Last year things heated up during the closure because of the fuss over prorogation, so interest in politics came back sooner than Parliament. We'll see if any Facebook groups pop up this Christmas...

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Tuesday the Access to Information Committee voted strongly in favour of investigating the CBC in the new year for their repeated refusals to answer Access to Info requests about their cost expenditures. The Liberals abstained from voting, but even the Dippers was able to recognize right from wrong in this matter. I would like to hear Iggy's justification for trying to keep the CBC expenditures secret, because that one will be difficult to sell to voters who want to know how their billions of dollars are spent. The CBC maintains that telling us how much Mansbridge makes in a year would compromise his "artistic integrity".

I suppose the argument is that they should be free to pursue all stories regardless of expenses incurred, and that telling the public how much of their tax dollars Terry Milewski spends will only prevent him from doing his job in the future. The other argument is that the expenditure process is so horribly complicated that the CBC can't possibly be expected to produce specific answers to specific questions.

I just want to know how much they pay Kady O'Malley for what she does. Wikileaks anyone? Can I get a whistleblower?

Today's poll question; is the Facebook creator a good choice for person of the year? Personally I do not like Facebook. It seems to often replace conventional friendships with the public printed words instead of verbal communication. The problem with using written words to maintain relationships so publicly with everyone else you know, is that you remove tone of voice and body language from the equation. People very easily get the wrong idea from an innocent comment, and a large portion of that communication can and will be taken out of context. An inside joke between two friends can be grossly misunderstood by another friend and cause problems.

How many friendships have died on Facebook? Marriages? Facebook evidence is a pretty hot commodity in divorce court as I understand it these days. Do you think Facebook provides a useful service, or is it slowly eroding society as we know it? I also don't like how the guy became a billionaire, by selling your information to the highest bidder. Hey, maybe some people like Facebook Scrabble so much they don't mind all their personal information being provided to a 3rd party enterprise...

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Well John Ivison at the National Post is now speculating that Jack Layton "looks to make his move". Okay, so the NDP has been trailing badly in the polls all year, suffered a devastating defeat in Winnipeg North, and suddenly Lucky Jack is read to make his move? Come John, is that the best you can come up with? I understand that political traffic diminishes the closer we get to Christmas, but this was the best you had to submit to your editor yesterday? There was one good poll in Quebec which would add 1 or 2 seats to the NDP if accurate, their vote elsewhere collapsed in the byelections.

Why should Jack be suddenly empowered? It ain't like Canadians are falling in love with his ideology.

It is fun to watch Don Martin on Power Play, because it is clear that the people who hired him have instructed him to be more "animated". Now the vocal tones of his discussions are comparable to the adults on Sesame Street, exaggerating certain vowels to make uninteresting things more exciting. If you want a good laugh, watch an episode. It is funny how bad Don Martin is at this job. He has become a parody of himself. That being said, I agree with his opinion more than Jane Taber, who appeared to be #2 for the job; unless they hired Martin because Taber turned it down.

Today's poll question; which issue do you expect Liberals to get angry about this Christmas season? History has shown that when out of power, Liberals are happiest when they are angry over the holiday recess. What will it be this year? Complaints against G20 police? Mandatory long form census? Something ado about Afghanistan?

I saw on the Don Martin Show that Liberals are being sent out across the country to complain about health care. That might be a sign of things to come.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

What do you think was the top Canadian political story of 2010? Susan Delacourt thinks it was foreign abortion-gate, which she said on the Don Martin Show today had spilled into G20-gate and security council-gate. I would say probably the biggest story was all those crazy G20 protesters trashing the city of Toronto. I don't think the anti-globalization activists did a very good job of winning public support for their issue. The story that I most enjoyed in 2010 was the Liberal Express launching from the front steps of parliament breaking down a few minutes down the road, later to be towed to Harper Diesel for repairs. That was fun.

Today's poll question; do you think that it is morally wrong for regional campaign offices to contribute to a national campaign? Now that Elections Canada is seeking criminal charges against the Conservatives because regional offices allegedly contributed to the national campaign, it is time to ask if you even think there's anything wrong with that. Personally I don't, and thus far it would appear that most of you agree with me. I would be curious to know how much money Elections Canada has spent investigating campaign-gate 2006. It would probably take an Access to Information request, as I doubt EC puts that on their website.

I suppose Liberal regional campaign offices never ever contribute to the national campaign ever. As far as I know, that is not being investigated. What about the many reports of Liberal candidates violating election law and campaigning at polling stations on election day? When will EC and the CBC raid the Liberal campaign headquarters?

There have been 42 votes thus far in our fall session of Parliament, and Liberal leader Mike Ignatieff registered a vote in 8 of them. Here I had been under the impression that voters elect candidates to vote on their behalf in our House of Commons. That's not what the people of Etobicoke Lakeshore got when they elected Iggy. He has been present to vote on the mandatory census, gun registry, and gender expression; but has missed votes on pension protection, affordable housing, family leave, air security, war resisters, and Panama free trade. I wonder if any of those issues matter to the people of Etobicoke Lakeshore who have been without a vote in parliament 80% of the time.

By comparison, Bob Rae registered a vote in 85% of the votes in the fall session.

Monday, December 13, 2010

According to the latest Le Devoir poll, the NDP have pulled even with the Liberals in Quebec with a projected 21% of the popular vote, where the Tories are down 3% since 2008. How would this affect seat counts where an election held today? The NDP would add a Liberal seat and a Bloc seat, the Tories would remain unchanged. This is in all likelihood an outlier poll, as I don't expect the dippers to sustain that level of support in the long term. One thing is clear, a surge in NDP numbers in Quebec hurts the Liberals more than the Conservatives.

Elections Canada continues its crusade against the Conservative Party, over the horror that regional campaign offices were involved in national campaign activities, and that therefore their expenses should have been filed elsewhere. The case is quite convoluted and includes opposing interpretations of the law, but whichever side is deemed to be right I believe that it should be permissible for regional offices to participate in the national campaign. A strong national campaign benefits regional candidates and a national party is itself a collection of regional candidates.

So a regional office can't purchase time for an advertisement nationally? Are we forcing them to buy ads on the 6 o'clock news instead of Hockey Night in Canada? That national ad will likely be viewed by voters in their riding and help the local candidate win votes. I don't see the ethical violation in this matter. I also believe it should be permissible for local candidates to air commercials from the party. We shouldn't require local candidates to air only homemade commercials shot on their I-Phone.

Ironically enough I worked for Elections Canada for both of the 2006 and 2008 federal elections. The biggest problem we had in 2006 was the local Liberal candidate campaigning at polling stations on election day. I don't recall Elections Canada launching any criminal investigation for this violation of election law after that Liberal candidate won in 2006. This MP was later mired in an unrelated fraud investigation, was booted out of the Liberal Party, joined the Greens, and lost handily in 2008.

In the 2010 byelections, Liberals were again reported to be campaigning at polling stations. Elections Canada, can we please get an investigation into this serial violation of election law? Can you please raid the Liberals national party headquarters? You can call the CBC in advance and have them meet you there...

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Tomorrow's poll question; what issue do you expect the Liberal Party to get angry and sanctimonious about over the Christmas holidays? In recent years of Liberal minority opposition we have seen repeated fury over the holiday season, from coalition-gate in 2008 to prorogue-gate in 2009. What do you think we can expect this year? Your suggestions are welcome before the Monday morning launch of the poll.

Today's poll question, do you think that your current or most recent job would make a good reality TV show?" There is a rising number of television shows where camera crews follow people around at their jobs and put it on TV. I think it started with Dirty Jobs, because Billy the Exterminator, Pawn Stars, Ice Road Truckers, American Pickers, et all came after the trail blazing Mike Rowe. Did Deadliest Catch come before or after Dirty Jobs? I like Dirty Jobs, but a lot of these other job based "reality" TV shows I am not interested in. Quite often if you have seen one episode, you've seen them all. I am a fan of Billy the Exterminator.

There are a lot of jobs that would be an interesting 30 minutes of TV, but every day is the same and does not provide a plurality of daily twists and turns that you need to maintain audience interest. Dirty Jobs is great because it doesn't beat one single job to death, there is a lot of fresh footage.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

I am looking for some ideas for poll questions to run on my site if you have any thoughts on some year end polls. Parliament will be adjourning for Christmas very soon, and I'm sure the opposition will select something to get sanctimonious about over the holiday season. Last year it was prorogue-gate, this year who knows. Nazi-gate? Perhaps some random student will start a Facebook group titled "Canadians Against WWII References", they can organize rallies across the country that the CBC can promote and tell everyone where and when to show up if they want to be on television. What Liberal "anger point" is the most likely to become this year's Christmas Facebook rage?

Also, what other year end poll questions would you like to have asked?

I am proud to point out that Canada is winning big at the climate changeology awards at their latest resort retreat. Today's poll question; are you ashamed of Canada winning fossil awards? I wear these fossil awards like a badge of honour. Copenhagen was supposed to be a big deal and it failed in the wake of the e-mail leak. Now Cancun 2010 is just a joke. That these nut jobs are singling out Canada instead of China (which contributes more greenhouse gas in a year than Canada will in a decade), just shows you their blind hypocrisy. Are you guys afraid of China? What about Russia? They crank out more fossil fuels than Canada. Isn't anyone mad at Russia?

Merry Christmas everyone! The latest poll has the Tories at 39% while the Liberals once again fail to resonate with voters. The fall session will soon be at an end with the Conservatives ahead with a comfortable lead. The Liberals will try to think of something to latch on to, like last year's prorogue-gate. Pinko bike riding media kooks need something to get angry about over the holiday season. That's the way she goes.

Friday, December 10, 2010

John Ivison at the National Post is now speculating that the Tories are considering proroguing parliament for the 3rd year in a row. While I did not object to either of the first two prorogations, after the fuss the pinko bike riding communist kooks made over last year's edition, it would be silly to do it again right now. Ivison's theory is that the government likes making throne speeches, and this allows them to resume parliament with a new throne speech. There is no specific reason to prorogue (like a socialist/separatist coup or the Olympics), John just speculates that they want to do it for purely partisan reasons.

There is no reason to prorogue right now. Bob Rae did it almost every year he was Premier, and he was one of the worst leaders in our nation's history. Prorogue when you've got a reason. Don't just do it because you want to present a new throne speech.

Today's poll question; who is the top Canadian athlete of 2010? The front runner has to be Sidney Crosby, who scored the gold medal winning goal at the Olympics and is off to a thunderous start to the 2010 NHL season. Jonathan Toews was the top forward at those Olympics, and he won the Stanley Cup. Joey Votto had an MVP season in major league baseball. A lot of people like George St Pierre. Steve Nash has won NBA MVP awards, and a number of guys won gold medals.

I can only imagine Iggy and his spin doctors sitting around a TV in the Liberal war room watching another fantastic music performance by our Prime Minister and asking the question; how can we possibly spin this against him? The best idea that they could conjure up was that he did not sing a song in French. Seriously??? That's the best you've got? He should have sang a song in French? Really???

Last time the PM showed off his musical side to a large audience, Iggy got on the radio the next day and said "I can do that". Oddly enough, we are still waiting for Count Chocula to put on a show of his own. I think that Iggy not only needs to man up and sing a song, he should do his own rendition of Alouette. The symbology would be significant. Plucking the feathers from a small bird.

If you are still sitting on the fence about Polygamy, here is another reason to oppose it; evidently young males have a habit of "going missing" in Polygamist communities. In the case of Bountiful BC, an estimated 20% of the men are "missing". "These patterns suggest some combination of an outflow of men and an inflow of women."

They are screwing with the natural balance of available men and available women, which creates sociological problems. What is social justice? Is it allowing freedom of religion, or condemning a practice which condemns a segment of the population and encourages the exportation of the sexual competition? Polygamy needs to be against the law and enforced as such, even if it means using the Charter's infamous "notwithstanding clause". Pierre put it in there because even he realized our courts can be crazy.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

When I awoke today to read that there was a protest against Don Cherry's "pinko Toronto media" and "left wing kooks" statements in the form of public figures wearing pink, I immediately turned to CBC Newsworld to see if any of them were wearing pink. I was seriously expecting either Carole MacNeil or Evan Soloman to be wearing pink, but alas they let me down. I only had time to watch about 30 minutes before I left for work, but I did not see any pink on CBC TV. I'm sure one of them for at least a moment had to have some pink somewhere on their outfit. Unless they don't want to admit that they are left wing kooks in the pinko Toronto media...

Don Cherry, the greatest threat to the Liberal Party in the Greater Toronto Area. Is it a coincidence that when he began campaigning for Conservatives in Toronto, Liberals started losing in Toronto?

The supposedly controversial statements made recently by Canadian icon Don Cherry have upset many "left wing kooks" and the "pinko Toronto media". Campaigning openly for Conservative candidates significantly helped two highly improbable victories by Rob Ford and Julian Fantino in the greater Toronto area. Cherry is an entertainer who has made his career by making controversial and sometimes outlandish statements to get his point across. We might want our political class to conduct themselves with a certain level of decorum, but Cherry is not a politician. It is Don being Don, and that's why he is loved as much as he is.

If the pinko Toronto media think that it will help the left to attack Don Cherry, good luck with that. Honestly, Don Cherry might be the guy who can do the most damage to left wing kooks in Southern Ontario, especially the Liberal stronghold of Toronto. Don Cherry has a whole lot of fans, including many people who are not otherwise interested in politics. I would support Cherry if he ran for office, but I don't think that he should. He already has one of the best jobs in the world, and he is not a politician. Entertainers are in the business of entertaining, and Don Cherry is great at what he does.

Today's poll question; who do you think is the most significant Canadian political game changer of 2010? Yes, I am borrowing a poll question from the CBC, but they left Rob Ford off their list. Personally I don't see how you can have such a list without Rob Ford, or even the CBC's own Don Cherry, who played a role in the election of Ford and Fantino. Kory Teneycke has to be on that list. He might have resigned, but he served a purpose and now Sun TV is scheduled for a March launch. Evidently the commenter's at the CBC website also noticed that Rob Ford's name was not on that list. I don't know how Evan can justify having the new mayor of Calgary on the list, but the new mayor of Toronto left off. Toronto is a much larger city with more federal seats than Calgary.

I put Stephen Harper on the list, though I am not sure that I would rank him as a 2010 "game changer". He has been consistently strong for many years now, but I don't think he really changed anything this year. Yet he was nominated in my comment section, and that's why I ask for your suggestions (sorry, Jim Prentice didn't make the list). I call Rob Ford the most significant game changer because he did the improbable if not impossible. A Conservative won Toronto. If I run Stephen Harper in a poll, he will get a majority of votes. The Blogging Tory audience strongly supports him.

Wednesday radio host Christy Clark announced her intention to run for the leadership of the BC Liberal Party (and thus potentially becoming Premier without winning a general election). She does not hold a seat in the legislature, supports the HST, and her brother was investigated by the RCMP in the controversial BC rail investigation. Her brother Bruce was also one of the main fundraisers in BC for Paul Martin's leadership campaign. Gordon Campbell was always said to be a friend to the federal Tories, Christy Clark is most certainly not.

She is not like one of the "BC Liberals" who are also federal Conservatives. There is nothing wrong with that from her perspective, if she is an honest Liberal then she may as well run for the provincial Liberals. The biggest problem for her candidacy is that the provincial Liberals rely on a large majority of federal Tory voters to defeat the pinko communist kooks at the NDP. Christy Clark is not going to do well among federal Conservatives, which is great news for the fledgling BC Conservative Party (which has yet to run a full slate of candidates) and the NDP.

And her radio show is extremely annoying. I listen to that network quite often because they carry Adler Online, but as soon as I hear Christy's voice, I am very quick to change the station. CKNW used to air Adler in the afternoon, until they bumped him back to nights and gave Christy an afternoon show.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

It would seem that several voices on the left are angry that Tom Flanagan made a joke that the Americans should assassinate Wikileaks folk-hero Julian Assange. I'd like to know how many of those people angry at Flanagan also decried former Liberal Communications Director Scott Reid when he recommended that what Liberals need to do with Stephen Harper is "kill him, kill him dead". How many human rights lawyers threatened to sue Scott Reid? I'm guessing not a lot.

This represents the same left wing hypocrisy that prompts Liberals to compare conservatives to Nazis, but then become outraged when a Tory MP does the same. Do unto others as you demand they not do to you. Isn't that how the saying goes?

The CBC is running a poll of the top political "game changers" of 2010. Leading the poll is new Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi, but noticeably absent from the list is new Toronto mayor Rob Ford. Tony Clement made the list (and not for positive reasons), but the most substantial game changer of 2010 did not make their list of nominations. Why am I not surprised? This poll was launched by the Soloman Show, so the absent of the most significant conservative game changer is understandable.

I suppose that prudence demands that I run the same poll with Rob Ford on the list. Before I do, who else should be nominated? Bob Rae made the list, and I wonder why him and not Iggy.

Today's poll question; should we allow oil tankers in Canadian waters? Yesterday the opposition passed a motion to ban oil tankers from filling up on Albertan oil in northern British Columbia. This is in response to the plan to build an oil pipeline to the port at Kitimat BC. The current pipeline runs through metro Vancouver; ergo the opposition is trying to force the continued delivery of oil through the province's largest metropolis rather than divert it north. This legislation is clearly aimed at BC voters, but demanding that the greatest plurality of BC voters continue with oil pipelines flowing underneath their streets instead of sending it to a less populated area hardly seems like a winning strategy.

We are an oil exporting nation and rely on this export for much of our national economic wealth. Oil is exported from BC ports, and this brings much economic prosperity and activity to our province. Shutting it out will have grave consequences. Moreover, if you think tankers are so dangerous, why insist that we direct that traffic to Vancouver? The damage would be far greater if there were a major tanker accident in the waters off Vancouver than if it happened in the north.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

When was the last time that a Provincial election was so uninspiring that both the leader of the winning party and the leader of the official opposition resigned within 1.5 years of the last election? Gordon Campbell did not win in 2009 because BC loved him and his carbon tax, he won because Carole James was that bad. Now here we are before the half way point of a majority mandate and both main party leaders are quitting. Both will have leadership contests while parliament is sitting. BC finds itself in a bit of a mess.

From the NDP perspective, if you did not think that Carole James could beat whoever replaces Cambpell, now was the time to act. It is a smart move to replace a lame leader when the government is also picking a new leader. I texted the news to my NDP friend and he replied that they needed new blood and he is still voting Dipper.

Today the new mayor of Toronto Rob Ford was sworn into office, and none other than Don Cherry introduced the new conservative mayor to city council. He gave an excellent speech predicting that Mr. Ford could possibly become the greatest mayor in Toronto's history. And he signed off his introduction with "put that in your pipes, you left wing kooks". Ah, I love Don Cherry. How is it possible that this great Canadian icon does not have an Order of Canada? Is that honour selected by left wing kooks?

Liberals have got to be concerned that conservative ideology is spilling into one of their last strongholds. The latest polls also have the Liberals in trialling in Atlantic Canada, so a Tory majority may be closer to reality than it appears.

Today's poll question; to which historical example would you compare the Liberals communication strategy? They seemed to be very upset at having their campaign techniques compared to the Nazi Propaganda Ministry. If that was inappropriate (I understand, if it is "too soon" for WWII references), then which of these many historical examples would have been more appropriate? Personally, I believe the Liberal leader's office operates much more comparable to the Soviet Union and the Bolsheviks who carried out the Russian revolution than Nazi Germany. I also disagree that comparing current strategy to historical examples represents any kind of "gross slander". Left wingers are certainly wired to compare Conservatives to Nazis, so it is odd that they would be so offended when they are treated as they are inclined to treat others.

Monday, December 6, 2010

The Liberals are angry that new Conservative MP Julian Fantino compared their media strategy to that of Joseph Goebbels in Nazi Germany. Now the Liberal Party is offended and they want the Tory MP punished, because people on the left never ever compare Conservatives to Nazis. That kind of comparison is only acceptable if it is moving left to right, not right to left. Mr Fantino said "I think they intended to hurt my campaign. The things they said ... a lot of them were absolute lies. They keep repeating [them]. I call it the Hitler theory. You tell a lie often enough you hope that some people will believe it." To which the Liberals responded: "It is a term of gross slander, and to toss it around as a political epithet both trivializes that terrible moment in history and insults the memory of its real victims."

Good luck guys. I strongly disagree that Fantino's statement is "gross slander". It doesn't change the reason he made the statement, that Liberals were repeating lies about him during the campaign hoping that people would believe them. That's what the Nazi propaganda ministry did. That does not suggest that the Liberal Party participated in the Holocaust, it provides a historical example of their campaign strategy. Is it "too soon" for WWII references? Should he have gone back to reference ancient Rome? Had they been compared to the propaganda ministry of Kim Jong Il, would Liberals still be this offended? Coalition partner Gilles Duceppe compared Canada to Nazi Germany, and I don't recall the Liberals screaming foul about it.

Come guys, grow up. It's like the time someone accused me of being racist against Russians because I called Iggy "Rasputin".

While the federal NDPs are looking at BC as a place where they hope to gain seats in the next election, they can't be enjoying the civil war erupting within the ranks of their provincial brethren. Carole James has been unquestionably an awful leader. She was unable to beat Gordon Campbell a year ago despite the carbon tax and growing discontent (that led to the Premier resigning a little over a year after winning his 3rd mandate). To add insult to injury, the MLA leading the revolt is the same MLA who nominated James to become the leader!

She has been soundly defeated by an unpopular opponent in two straight elections, and next time they won't have Gordo to attack. The BC Liberals will be be choosing a new leader who will undoubtedly re-brand the party for the next election. Unless the NDP does the same, they are screwed. They are still haunted by the ghosts of Glen Clark and Ujjal Dosangh, and Carole James sure as Hell ain't the antidote.

Yesterday Iran announced that it now has the ability to produce "yellowcake" uranium which puts them closer to being able to manufacture nuclear weapons. Today's poll question; is it time for Israel to attack Iran's nuclear facilities? The downside is that an attack will very likely trigger a war between the two countries, however allowing Iran to develop these weapons could eventually lead to the destruction of Israel. When a country promises to wipe another "off the map", prudence demands that they be taken seriously, especially when they are seeking out the ability to do so.

One rumour coming out of the Wikileaks documents is that Saudi Arabia allegedly wants the United States to attack Iran. There are Muslim countries who do not want Iran to go nuclear.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

I saw this on Funny or Die, and it made me laugh. It is a kid appealing to millionaires to give him one million dollars. "I don't need it for anything specific, but I think it would be awesome". I do not know if any of my readers are millionaires, but if you are or know someone who is, please give me one million dollars. I will even send you a Christmas card. There is a donate tab on the right hand side of my site if you would like to donate one million dollars. For everyone else, I do accept donations of less than one million dollars. Merry Christmas!

I remember Chantal Hebert lashing out at MacLeans editor Andrew Coyne on the CBC At Issue panel for his magazine calling Quebec the most corrupt province in Canada. Meanwhile the latest headline at the Globe and Mail is "Scandal-plagued Quebec adopts political code of ethics", as "Quebec corruption probe reaches from hard hats to high-rise offices". As it turns out, the MacLeans cover was not a personal slight at the people of Quebec, but rather exposing the corruption of their elected officials. Don't expect Chantal to apologize to Andrew as the scope of Quebec corruption is being exposed. Maybe the greatest insult was putting the beloved Bonhomme Carnival on the cover and dragging him into the story.

Today's poll question; do you think a native chief should be paid more than the Prime Minister? Evidently one of the best ways in Canada to make a lot of money is to become a Native Chief or Council member. While it is said that many who live on First Nation reserves live in relative poverty, the bosses make big money. It reminds me of Yassir Arafat and the Palestinians, he filtered millions of dollars from Palestinian aid into his own personal accounts while the people he represented lived in poverty.

The people who should be the most angry are the First Nations people who are getting ripped of by their ruling council.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Friday on CTV Newsnet they did a piece on unemployment, and they featured a young guy who graduated top of his class in Film Studies 8 months ago and still has not found a job. His degree in watching television isn't working out for him? Big shocker! Couldn't CTV find any recent philosophy or sociology graduates to profile? Rather than seek out an experienced blue collar worker who has contributed value to the Canadian economy over a significant career and has lost his job; CTV finds a Film Studies graduate. Though I expect that CTV did not seek out the kid who watches lots of television, but rather that he contacted CTV trying to get on TV.

There are thousands of jobs available in Canada right now. You might not be able to get a job watching television, but if you are flexible on the type of employment you are seeking, it isn't hard to get work in Canada right now. That being said, if you wasted tens of thousands of dollars on a useless arts degree, you are likely in for a rough employment career...

Generally I feel bad for investors who get taken advantage of in a scam, but in the case of Pigeon King International, anyone who believed that pigeon breeding was going to become a commercial livelihood deserved to get fleeced. Pigeons, they said, would eventually replace chickens as the top poultry product on the market. All you had to do was buy a ridiculously overpriced breeding pair from Pigeon King, and they would buy back the offspring. What could possibly go wrong? Pigeon King first filed for bankruptcy, and now is shut down leaving several pigeon investors covered in pigeon shit. If those people are looking for something to supplement their pigeon meat income, send me $500 and I will send you a breeding pair of guinea pigs. People will want to eat their offspring. The question isn't how much money you will make, it will be what to do with all your profits!

Today's poll question; who do you think benefits more from Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, criminals or civilians? New Conservative MP Julian Fantino is under siege from the Liberals for suggesting that Pierre Trudeau's beloved Charter benefits criminals. I suppose that the Liberals didn't know Fantino's opinion on the Charter or gun registry when they recently courted him to run for the Liberal Party. His many years of experience as a police officer has led him to the opinion that this legislation helps keep criminals out of jail.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Having just won a safe seat from would be coalition partners the NDP, leader Mike Ignatieff is trying to make his case that the next general election is going to be a two horse race between the Liberals and Tories. He is trying to put some distance between himself and the Dippers. I recall Liberal activist Jane Taber recently trying to make the point that the Canadian public is not afraid of a Liberal-NDP coalition, but why then are the Liberals so eager to run away from it?

After the election Iggy Tweeted "Tonight shows the LPC is the only party that can replace the Harper gov't and deliver real, progressive change for Canadians." I replied to his Tweet: "Losing a bellweather seat in the region that elected half your caucus really shows that you have a shot at forming government."

Here are the remainder of your poll results from the month of November. Such questions as; do you think that Bob Rae wants to be Prime Minister? Do you intend to subscribe to Sun TV when it becomes available in March? Should people be allowed to marry more than one spouse. Would Prince William make a good Canadian head of state? What is the best way to choose a party leader?

Today's poll question; do you think that there should be an election call before the end of the fall session of Canadian parliament? I was recently listening to Kelly McParland on the Charles Adler Show (in podcast form available for free on ITunes), and Kelly was suggesting that after the recent byelection results it would be in the Prime Minister's best interest to call an election immediately to catch the Liberals with their pants down around their ankles. His thesis is that things can only get worse going forward; that the economy could worsen, Iggy could suddenly become popular, the Liberals could raise money, etc, etc. So do it now.

I don't want a Christmas Election, but it would only work if the opposition brought down the government. They would have to make the human smuggling bill a confidence motion and fast track it to a vote, hoping that the Liberals stay true to their promise of supporting human smuggling. It has to be by virtue of an opposition non-confidence vote, otherwise there will be a backlash for the government dissolving their mandate at the half way point. But if the government collapsed because the Liberals want to stand up for human smugglers, bonjour Tory majority.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

If Wikileaks is in the business of taking guarded information and putting it into the public realm, I would like to make a request. The CBC has been refusing for years to answer Access To Information requests about their cost expenditures. Can somebody over there please release that information to Wikileaks? That is one Wikileak which would actually be in the public good, unlike putting sensitive military and diplomatic records online.

Here are your polling results for the first half of November. Such questions as; what is the funniest show on television? Which faux controvery has cost the Liberals the most credibility? Which Liberal would you put on your front lawn to scare children at Halloween? How would you rate. Is Jim Prentice a viable leadership candidate?

Today's poll question; should all government files on military and diplomatic matters be made public? Because this latest wikileaks saga similarities to last year's torture-gate scandal in Canada. The opposition was demanding the release of all relevant documents, even if it was against the national international interest. Some thought the public had the right to know this information, others said that it should be released only to parliamentarians (like you'd trust the NDP to keep their mouths shut).

Of course, the day after the Conservatives stole Vaughan from the Liberals, Soloman led his show with wikileaks. He's quite excited about the wikileaks story. What do you think?

Yesterday the Liberal Party announced their intention to vote against tougher restrictions and penalties on human smuggling, preferring instead to allow the dangerous and exploitative practice to continue in its current form. They are sending the message (with a little help from their coalition friends) that it is okay to cram hundreds of people into the cargo hold of a ship for months at a time in unsanitary conditions with inadequate supplies. We should not take preventative action, and should block any meaningful attempt at immigration reform.

The legislation was okay on first reading, but now untenable on second reading? What happened in between? Do you think Iggy would have flopped to his new position had it not been for the news that the citizenship failure rate has doubled with the new test? I think Iggy is preparing to attack the government on immigration in a vain attempt to win back support from a demographic that has been shifting Tory in recent elections. That's all this is. Taber is speculating that the Conservatives will make the immigration reform bill a confidence motion.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

The Libertarian Party of Canada ran a candidate in the Vaughan byelection and was narrowly defeated by the NDP by just 1.1% (is that inside the margin of error?). Why did the NDP even run a candidate in Vaughan? Their 1.7% of the vote could have helped Tony Gecko. Meanwhile Jack Layton was on TV yesterday saying they lost their safe seat in Winnipeg North because they ran a rookie against a veteran. Who's fault is that? The Dippers are notoriously bad at candidate selection. I remember in the last election in my riding the NDP candidate had to drop out when he was found on Youtube talking about how awesome it is to drive a car while high on acid. This man was elected to his candidacy by the local NDP rank and file.

Maybe Layton should follow the Liberal lead and start appointing candidates instead of electing them?

Today's poll question; do you think that Don Martin is a good choice to host CTV's flagship politics show Power Play? He did a term as a guest host, which seemed mostly awkward. At the same time, if it had to be Don Martin or the other sub Jane Taber, I would unquestionably prefer Martin. I'm pretty sure Taber wanted that job. She just seemed to be having so much fun while hosting to flagship politics show. My opinion on Don Martin was best described approximately a year ago on this blog.

In this week's byelection in Winnipeg North, the Green Party defeated the Pirate Party by just 20 votes. In 2008 the Greens received over one thousand votes in that riding. In 2010 they received 114. Elizabeth May, where have all the cowboys gone? It is no wonder that Lizzy wants to avoid a leadership vote or convention, the Green Party is in trouble. Given that they can barely beat the pirates, is it time we start talking about the Pirate Party getting a seat at the leaders debates in the next election campaign? I think so. If The Greens belong there, we may as well allow the Pirates too. In the 3 byelections combined, the Greens scored a whole 2% of the popular vote (they scored 6% in those ridings in 2008). Congratulations Frank Graves, who has had them in double digits for most of the year. Almost 70,000 voted on Monday. That's 70 times more than your standard EKOS poll.